“Seek your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and you will find him.”
It has been reported that the Chinese are looking for a deeper meaning of life in religion rather than communist ideology. The report from the Pew Research Centre, ‘China’s Religion Survey’ found that China is a much more nominally atheist country than anticipated.
According to the report, only 10% of Chinese adults are religious and engage in spiritual activities as China is a communist country that promotes an atheistic worldview and makes it difficult to maintain one’s beliefs.
The report explains that people who hold spiritual beliefs (nearly a third of the population) or identify themselves as religious differ between their words and actual lifestyle.
As an example of the gap between religious practices and identities, only 4% of Chinese adults officially identify as Buddhist, while more than a quarter of adults in the China Family Panel Study (CFPS) survey said they burn incense at the least in a few places. This involves offering prayers to Buddha or other gods for some kind of divine intervention.
Because of this uniqueness, it is difficult to accurately measure the scope of Christian faith in China. According to the 2010 CGSS, approximately 2% of adults (23.2 million people) identified themselves as Christians.
But the problem was that many of those who professed belief in Jesus also shared belief in one or more non-Christian gods, such as Buddha, Taoist gods, and Allah. Moreover, the Chinese government has taken a hostile stance toward religious beliefs influenced by the Western world to block potential Western influence.
In particular, the Chinese Communist Party, under the current leadership of President Xi Jinping, has established a policy of ‘Sinicization of religion’ and has suppressed particularly unauthorized Protestant gathering places and Catholic churches. This means that many believers may be reluctant to disclose their faith for fear of possible persecution.
In response, CT said, “Pew Research’s report shows that despite the Chinese government’s best efforts, Chinese people continue to search for a deeper meaning of life than politics provides, “This also means that Christianity has maintained its place in the hearts and minds of many people despite ongoing challenges, thus, we can look forward to a hopeful future in the Gospel.” (Source: Gospel Prayer Newspaper Comprehensive).
There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see hear or eat or smell. But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 4:28-29)
God, we thank You for granting the Chinese people a heart that longs for eternity and a thirst that seeks the meaning of life even under the powerful communist system. May You guide them until they meet the only Savior, Jesus Christ, and do not let their thirst end in finding temporary solutions to problems or finding vain gods. May You help the Chinese church to rise up as a channel of salvation for those who are thirsty, and boldly preach the gospel of the cross even amid persecution, praying and serving this nation until the day they come as Your people.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
